Big-Time Soccer: The Remarkable Rise & Fall of the NASL

Nearly 40 years since its demise, the North American Soccer League continues to linger in the memories and imaginations of soccer fans across the United States — and beyond. The colorful, oftentimes controversial league attracted some of the game’s greatest players: Pele, Best, Cruyff, Muller, Beckenbauer, to name a few. Crowds of 70,000-plus flocked to games as the NASL brought star power to a country where soccer had been virtually invisible just a few years earlier.

Cast & Crew

Director

Rachel Viollet

Brandi Chastain

Self

Clive Toye

Self

Pelé

Self (archive footage)

George Best

Self (archive footage)

Johan Cruijff

Self (archive footage)

Giorgio Chinaglia

Self (archive footage)